The Witching Hour
by The-Cheese-Fairy
Summary: S8 fluff! The Charmed Ones all find themselves awake during the night. Paige is ecstatic after Henry's proposal, but is trying to hide it from Piper, who is upset about Leo. Phoebe is worried about the looming battle and is doped up on coffee. R&R, enjoy!


-1I've not posted on FF.N for over a year now, but alas, here I am! I don't really watch Charmed that much any more, but I guess I'll always have a soft spot for it! I found this hiding in my computer. I started writing it back in February in preparation for my dear friend BlueOrbs998's birthday, but it remains incomplete and was never posted. I've decided to post it - or at least the first half of it - for her just now. I will write the second half in the next couple of weeks! I hope you all enjoy it!

Ally Bean, this is for you!

It's set after 'The Last Temptation of Christy' (I had to Google that - the episode where Paige and Henry get engaged! Lol!) It's all very fluffy sister bonding stuff. Everyone loves a bit of fluff!

Oh, and: I don't own Charmed. If I did, season 8 wouldn't have sucked so badly. Haha!

**The Witching Hour**

Chapter 1

She stood staring aimlessly through the glass. It seemed that night had fallen over San Francisco unnoticed by the Charmed One. The city was dark. And now, instead of seeing the world outside, all she could look at were the mournful eyes of her own reflection in the blackened windowpane. She had no recollection of actually moving towards the window, or any awareness of how long she had been staring into the empty darkness of the night sky. But she did know, whatever length of time she'd been standing there, it had not helped to put her mind at peace.

When the first droplet of rain crashed into the glass, the noise was small but somewhat startling as it broke the tense silence which seemed to have overcome the Halliwell Manor. Before long, however, the rain was lashing down so hard that its onslaught against the glass surface was almost like thunder to her ears- especially after she had grown so accustomed to the quiet of the witching hour.

Suddenly aware of her surroundings- having been ripped from the directionless thoughts she had been occupied with for the entire evening- a chill trickled down her spine. She separated her hands, which had been linked in front of her, and began to rub her own arms in an attempt to warm herself. Upon touching her own skin, she realised that she wore a jacket of goose pimples; the house was colder than Piper had originally noticed.

She began to shuffle away from the window, now feeling the cold it was letting into her bedroom. Unfortunately, her usually welcoming and comfortable bed did not look as inviting as it normally did. Going to sleep did not feel the same without the man she loved by her side. So she decided to bypass her bed and hope that her bathrobe was enough to keep the chills out as she ventured alone into the dark lower floor of her home in search of a warm drink.

As soon as she set foot on the carpet of the Manor's upstairs hallway though, Piper knew she was not the only person awake. Even before she heard the hushed whisper of one of her sisters in the nursery, she was overwhelmed with a comforting feeling of company. Neither of her sisters was sleeping. She didn't know how she knew this. But she knew, nonetheless.

She was, however, mildly surprised when she opened the nursery door and found Paige staring absentmindedly across the darkened room- rather than Phoebe, who she had been expecting. It was not that Paige didn't care for her nephews (she did- very much so); it was just unusual, Piper thought, for the youngest of the sisters to lose sleep to watch over sleeping babies.

**xxxxx**

The crisp coldness of the dimly lit corridor melted away as Paige stepped softly into the nursery where her nephews soundly slept. Unfortunately the restful feeling the children radiated was not nearly enough to still Paige's fluttering heart, or calm her dancing thoughts, as she had hoped they would.

"Hey little dudes." A cheerful whisper softened the silence. She wrapped both of her hands around the wooden bar, which lined the top of her youngest nephew's crib, and an inane grin appeared on her face. This was not unusual for the evening Paige had just experienced though; she had not stopped smiling all night. And now, with her hands so visible, the light from the glowing moon shone through the small window- casting a luminescent glow over the beautiful new addition to her finger. The engagement ring Henry had given her just hours before, was- once again- lighting up the youngest Charmed One's eyes.

Paige almost felt like sighing; this visit to Chris and Wyatt had only increased the butterflies in her stomach, not calmed them down. But now that she was in the company of her two favourite males- with the exception of Henry, whom she had worn out and left sleeping in the bedroom- she did not want to leave them. Watching over her nephews always gave her a sense of pride and love.

"Guess what Aunty Paige did tonight?" She asked the sleeping boys, lifting one hand from the crib and using her index finger to gently trace Chris's angelically soft cheek. Obviously, the boys did not reply. But Paige continued anyway. "She went and got herself engaged to the most wonderful man in the world…"

There it was again: the immeasurable grin. Paige could not remember a time when she had smiled so much! Even the simple thought of Henry was causing Paige's heart to tango. Overcome with her own ecstatic thrill the youngest Charmed One found herself literally jumping in the air. Biting down on her bottom lip with her eyes tightly closed, she resisted the need to let out an excited squeal. Paige knew she was acting like a love struck teenager, but she was too content to care.

In her burst of delight she had moved from Chris's crib to Wyatt's bed. All that was visible of the three-year-old was his tousled blond hair poking out from beneath his bed covers. Paige smirked. Life was never going to be wonderful for the Halliwells, but for the youngest Charmed One, at this precise moment it was damn near close!

"Paige?"

In all of her excitement, the witch-whitelighter had not noticed the door to the nursery open. The sudden appearance of a new voice in the quietened room startled Paige to the point of alarm. The dazzling lights of her orb cast a frighteningly bright glow over the walls as her fear response kicked in.

"Piper!" She yelped- as quietly as she could manage- when she shakily reformed. "You scared the bejesus out of me!"

Paige turned to face the door where Piper stood, smirking. But Paige immediately saw beyond the smile her sister wore. Piper's eyes, like Paige's ring had been, were illuminated by the soft glow of the moon. Instead of the enticing beauty the ring had held though, Piper's eyes shone in insufferable hurt. The heavy, burdening circles under her eyes were more noticeable now more than they had ever been.

"What's wrong?" Paige asked, her tone and stance immediately changing as she stepped towards the woman in the door.

"Couldn't sleep." Piper replied simply. Whatever the reason for her insomnia, she was hiding the fact it was present at all.

"Me neither."

"I noticed. What were you doing in the nursery?"

"I was just checking on the boys…" She took a firm hold of her big sister's hand, managing to suppress the smile she had been wearing. Although the desire to dance was still jiving its way through her body, the longer she held tightly to Piper's hand, the more the dancing urge was quashed. Something was clearly troubling the eldest Charmed One, and Paige made the decision then and there that her good news could wait until she had helped her sister.

"Let's go downstairs," Paige suggested, so that they would not wake the sleeping Manor residents. As she turned to shut the door to the nursery, a timid smile escaped her and she brought her free hand to her lips. "Shh," she said silently to the boys. For now, they would be the only ones who knew of her engagement.

"Why are you awake anyway, Missy Paige?" Piper asked, as Paige placed her hand in her pocket to hide the ring she had, up until now, been awestruck by.

"… I, uh," She suddenly found her top lip compressed between her teeth. Her ability to lie convincingly on the spot had been lost when she had left her teenage years behind her. Fortunately the unusual smell wafting up the stairs in their direction handed her the perfect excuse, "…Coffee!"

"Coffee?"

"Yeah, you really shouldn't drink leaded before bed…"

"I thought you would have figured that out after twenty-nine years, Paige…" Piper sighed with an amused laugh and a roll of her eyes. Paige was glad she had made Piper smile, but concern had not yet left her. Besides, the expression on the older sister's face soon turned from amusement to curiosity. "Did you leave the light on in the kitchen?"

"No…" Paige followed her sister's gaze along the corridor. Sure enough the kitchen light was still glowing brightly. But the two remained curious for only a millisecond: a silhouette was soon visible in the doorway.

"I am so ready to kick your ass!"

"Phoebe!!" Piper squalked with another small giggle.

**xxxxx**

The kitchen… Although she didn't cook in it (with the exception of potions, of course) this had always been Phoebe's favourite room in the Manor. Even in the witching hour when it was surrounded by the blackness of night, it gave off the homely feel she missed in her new apartment. That probably explained why, even at an unknown hour of the morning, she felt the need to sit in it. (Although it also had something to do with the fact the couch in the living room was nowhere near as comfortable as her own bed, which had, regrettably, been taken over by two young blondes.)

Memories resided everywhere in this kitchen; from the potion stained ceiling to the burn-marked wooden floor; from the cupboards laden with everything from owl feathers to teabags; to the fridge which held not only some of Piper's best cooking, but pigs feet and rabbit blood too. Memories from when the kitchen belonged to Grams stretching all the way to the present when the kitchen was undoubtedly Piper's home within the home. This kitchen was and probably always would be the heart of the Halliwell Manor.

A large, drowsy yawn escaped her and she lifted her arms into the air for a satisfying stretch. Once the yawn had fully passed, the clairvoyant witch laid her eyes to rest once more on the ancient tome of a book she had brought down from the attic. Unfortunately, even the most homely kitchen in the world could not clear Phoebe's mind of the sudden feeling of looming danger which had overcome her that evening.

She couldn't quite put her finger on what, but ever since they had sat down for dinner something had been making Phoebe's stomach twist. It was almost a sense of fear. Or perhaps she was just paranoid. With this great battle looming on the horizon, it seemed all three of the sisters were a little on edge. With not even a vague idea of who they were supposed to be battling, or even when the battle would take place, every demon was a threat- hell, every magical being was a threat!

Phoebe knew she was beginning to obsess about the situation, but- high on caffeine and lacking sleep- her hands shakily flicked through the Book of Shadows. She scanned every page, (not even disregarding demons they had already vanquished – and there were a few!) but no matter how many pages she read, or how many times she read them, the information had stopped sinking in. Here eyes were too tired to register anything but the pictures which adorned the pages.

In her current state of mind, when Phoebe heard the distant sound of footsteps descending from above, she instantly leapt to her feet. "Oooh, there'd better not be demons in this house!" She whispered menacingly to herself, thrusting her hand sideways to grab the athame she had previously placed on the table. She moved slowly towards the door when the footsteps became accompanied by the sound of voices. "I am so ready to kick your ass!"

"Phoebe!" Came the amused reply, as both of her sisters stepped into the light. Paige was visibly chortling to herself.

"Oh, oh, oh! Sorry! I thought you were demons!" With an embarrassed giggle, Phoebe quickly placed the athame into the pocket of her bathrobe. "Is it morning already?"

**xxxxx**

End of chapter 1! More fluff to come in the next, and probably final chapter.


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